Joseph Shapiro

Its rules are frozen in place at standards from 40 to 50 years ago.

So here's the biggest problem that I found. To be on SSI, there's a limit on how much money you can have or how much you can own. It's called the asset limit. But that number is from another era. It's just $2,000, the same as it was in 1989.

So here's the biggest problem that I found. To be on SSI, there's a limit on how much money you can have or how much you can own. It's called the asset limit. But that number is from another era. It's just $2,000, the same as it was in 1989.

So here's the biggest problem that I found. To be on SSI, there's a limit on how much money you can have or how much you can own. It's called the asset limit. But that number is from another era. It's just $2,000, the same as it was in 1989.

Right. If SSI's asset limit had kept up with inflation, instead of being $2,000 today, it would be $10,000 today.

Right. If SSI's asset limit had kept up with inflation, instead of being $2,000 today, it would be $10,000 today.

Right. If SSI's asset limit had kept up with inflation, instead of being $2,000 today, it would be $10,000 today.

Yeah. I heard dozens and dozens of stories from people who ran into that $2,000 asset limit. You know, people who get SSI, they're required to report everything they own to Social Security and to let the agency monitor their bank accounts and collect income data. I spoke to a man in Illinois.

Yeah. I heard dozens and dozens of stories from people who ran into that $2,000 asset limit. You know, people who get SSI, they're required to report everything they own to Social Security and to let the agency monitor their bank accounts and collect income data. I spoke to a man in Illinois.

Yeah. I heard dozens and dozens of stories from people who ran into that $2,000 asset limit. You know, people who get SSI, they're required to report everything they own to Social Security and to let the agency monitor their bank accounts and collect income data. I spoke to a man in Illinois.

He said he felt trapped living in what he told me was a run-down apartment with rodents in an unsafe neighborhood. So he went looking for a new apartment. He saved up to make the down payment. Social Security, though, saw the money in his bank account, and he was now over $2,000, and it sent him a letter saying it was going to kick him off of SSI. So he stopped saving, and he never moved.

He said he felt trapped living in what he told me was a run-down apartment with rodents in an unsafe neighborhood. So he went looking for a new apartment. He saved up to make the down payment. Social Security, though, saw the money in his bank account, and he was now over $2,000, and it sent him a letter saying it was going to kick him off of SSI. So he stopped saving, and he never moved.

He said he felt trapped living in what he told me was a run-down apartment with rodents in an unsafe neighborhood. So he went looking for a new apartment. He saved up to make the down payment. Social Security, though, saw the money in his bank account, and he was now over $2,000, and it sent him a letter saying it was going to kick him off of SSI. So he stopped saving, and he never moved.

I heard about a family whose roof collapsed. They took a small loan from a friend. Social Security counted the loan as an asset, and the family lost benefits for their disabled son. And on Long Island in New York, I met Peter Belletti. He drove tractor trailers, but loading and unloading those rigs left him with nerve damage. He had pain, numbness in his feet. He had to stop working.

I heard about a family whose roof collapsed. They took a small loan from a friend. Social Security counted the loan as an asset, and the family lost benefits for their disabled son. And on Long Island in New York, I met Peter Belletti. He drove tractor trailers, but loading and unloading those rigs left him with nerve damage. He had pain, numbness in his feet. He had to stop working.

I heard about a family whose roof collapsed. They took a small loan from a friend. Social Security counted the loan as an asset, and the family lost benefits for their disabled son. And on Long Island in New York, I met Peter Belletti. He drove tractor trailers, but loading and unloading those rigs left him with nerve damage. He had pain, numbness in his feet. He had to stop working.

So he battled for years to get onto SSI. He kept getting turned down because of something he told SSI that he owned.

So he battled for years to get onto SSI. He kept getting turned down because of something he told SSI that he owned.

So he battled for years to get onto SSI. He kept getting turned down because of something he told SSI that he owned.

A one-week vacation timeshare in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania.